MARIANNA TELLS OF 4-YEAR LIVING ‘My ex beat me, choked me & put a knife to my throat’
X FACTOR star Marianna Zappi has told how she feared for her life during four years of hell with her ex-boyfriend.
Plucky Marianna, 34, was strangled, had a knife put to her throat and suffered horrific weekly attacks.
The defiant singer reduced Nicole Scherzinger, 38, to tears in her audition after revealing how she had survived the abusive relationship.
Speaking yesterday, Marianna revealed the full terrifying details of the violence which almost cost her life.
The Italian said: “I feel blessed to be on The X Factor because I’m lucky to be alive.
“I was in an abusive relationship which started with a single slap to my face after eight months and ended with almost daily beatings.
“I think the scariest moment was when he came home drunk one night and smashed a chair on my back before starting to choke me. He held so tight I lost my senses.
“He let go of my throat and said if I didn’t leave he was going to kill me.
“It was horrific because I was living in fear of my life every day.
“Another time he was upset because dinner wasn’t ready and he grabbed a knife and put it to my throat.
“At the end there wasn’t a single day when I felt safe. If I was still with him now I would be dead.”
Viewers will see talented Marianna Showbiz Editor competing in the Six Chair Challenge on tonight’s show as she vies for a place at Judges’ Houses.
Her performances on the ITV series are even more impressive given how close she came to death.
She said: “Nobody knew I was being abused, not even one friend. There’s fear but there’s also the shame.
“My best friend had just died from cancer and I had moved to London from Italy, so I was vulnerable and he took advantage of that.
“I was too scared and embarrassed to tell anyone or go to the police.
“One time I had the courage to go to the police he followed me and I knew if I went into the station he would kill me.”
The abuse continued until she cracked after one final attack. Marianna said: “He pushed me against the wall and punched me in the face and that was the last I saw of him.
“For 18 months after that I had to leave my home and distance myself from my friends to escape from him.”
Marianna is no longer scared of her abuser. Asked if she was worried he might track her down after seeing her on TV, she said: “Before, I was alone. There’s a whole army of people around me to protect me now.”
Marianna has now turned her life around and is an ambassador for the domestic abuse charity Women’s Trust.